this is literally the start of the rabbit hole i fell into some 20 years ago lol. Now i have a ham radio license and knee deep in equipment with no end in sight
In the 60-70s building radios like this was a common game for kids, and they kept building really advanced radios as they became adolescent, some continuing it as a hobby for their adulthood. At least in the Eastern block countries it was like that. Later in the 80-90s people started to build computers instead, shifting away the focus of attention from radios.
In the U.S., we (or at least I, c. 1979ish) had a kit for this kind of thing... So, some capitalist got rich off me "building" my radio (and I did have to construct it from the provided parts, admittedly, but it included some specialized parts, including a cardboard holder for the cardboard tube, that held on the little metal rod that had a metal bead on it to do the tuning, etc.), and I didn't get to learn as much as I might have had I done it from scratch, like this. Still, a cool project, and it stuck with me in ways.
And some of us in the UK also got hooked via this route. Many a happy hour spent stringing wire across my garden and scraping other bits of wire across a crystal. Then I got a Philips electronic set for Christmas when I was 11 … After building an analogue computer with op amps as a 17-yr old and gaining some familiarity with 7400 series digital ICs, I finally encountered digital computers at university, and got hooked on coding … which was incidentally useful for my physics degree! I didn’t touch a soldering iron again until I introduced my youngest child to the joys of the Arduino and planning evil ways to destroy the planet.
I have a friend in Poland and her dad used to make radio receivers, so many of them that he knows the schematics by heart. He told me that he even made a "bug" that fit in a matchbox.
It blew my mind when I realized that almost all wireless technologies are buid uppon radio, electromagnetic waves, just different frequences and protocols buid uppon the same fenomena.
With the glut of AI generaated crap innundating RU-vid right now, this was a very pleasant change. A living person, experimenting, learning and telling the world about it. Thanks! 👍
The best applications of AI as a broader concept are those that augment the thoughts of a person, not replace it. Things like iZotope, noise reduction in art, procedural FX, generative art in the original sense of art produced from human computer code, pen stabilization, randomized factors in modular synthesis, etc.
@@nataliealliepage7155 Correct. I've worked in AI for the last year or so, and youre right. Used to enhance it is very good, but I'm seeing dozens of AI generated videos in my feed. Usually low quality sci fi stories read by an AI voice and filled with AI generated images. That is just the wrong way of using it. 🙂
As soon as I hear an AI voice I close the video, delete it from my watch history, and I block the channel or mark the video as uninteresting. I'm getting very few of them now, I hope that works for you!
@@Deaferbeats I actually came across a channel a couple of times when I was looking up Game of Thrones that sounded like AI. Turns out it's actually a person who just has a really steady voice (I went back and listened to their earliest videos and it was the same person just not as polished sounding).
Drawing a inductor and calling it a capacitor put a smile on my face, I applaud you for correcting that. I have been in Amateur Radio for over 50 years and after building so many fairly complex radio receivers and transmitters to keep count, I am still fascinated by the basic crystal radio circuit. I always seem to have a crystal set on my work bench 🙂
If anybody is wondering, the inductor-capacitor network builds a band-pass filter that lets only a limited band of frequency through. By changing the contact on the inductor you can tune the center frequency of the passing band which lets you tune to a certain channel
While its preventing the "voltage drop" at the same time ;-) (Do you know that you can acctualy just solder one resistor together with one capacitator, and make radio from almost anything that what have electricity inside? ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) You know, every wire who is currently conducting electricity is kind of radio ;-)
Dunno what a band pass filter is, center frequency, or passing band. I assume many people watching this probably don't know those things either :) Yes, I will google it. But. It's gibberish to me right now
I love this vibe of engineering! It's informational, scrapy, and has vibe of learning-as-we-go. Not everything is perfect first time, and that's important to show!
Your curiosity, willingness to try out something that is considered too difficult by the average person, and very clear and logical thought process is amazing. These qualities are not even seen among many, maybe even most, engineering students. Bravo! Incredible!
Major kudos for trying to use the smoke dector part for an earpiece. Trying DIY stuff is how you learn. Btw. The inductor and capacitor have a natural resonate frequency that the electrical signal bounces back and forth at. That is how it selects one frequency from the antenna. And when you cam which part of the coil/inductor you are touching ot changes the resonate frequency you are selecting from the antenna.
Yeah, this actually makes me wonder if the problems with the capacitor were just a matter of having the _right_ capacitor for that particular circuit... if it was just some random capacitor, it might not have been well-matched to the purpose at all. I don't know the details well enough to suggest a specific value or type, but... worth researching and/or experimenting with different values and even types of capacitor, potentially.
The difference between AM and FM is that with AM you can very easily demodulate the radio waves into baseband (audio) signals with just a few components but AM quality gets way worse with interference, with FM you need a local oscilator that follows the frequency of the station that constantly changes (thats why its called Frequency modulation), you have a device that measures the phase difference between station and oscillator which has an output which is the audio and the correction signal for the oscilator itsself. Also the quality is way better with FM
For FM reception, a good quality tuned circuit will allow Slope detection, and FM crystal sets are indeed possible. Slope detection doesn't stop interference like a true FM detector however.
And then you move into CDMA like qfm256 and start learning about Walsh codes and information theory and build transceivers in software and it's a richly appointed rabbit hole
You can do an FM detector fairly simply with two diodes and a tuned circuit. The design is called a "ratio detector" You don't need a local oscillator etc
When i saw your laundry rack outside i thought you just built a massive spiral loop antenna for the radio lol! Those antennas(spiral loop) work exceptionally well for crystal radios, considering a normal dipole for AM would be ridiculously massive, maybe that would help you tune into a station and hear clearly! I hope you can resume this project with new approaches! a powerless radio is such a magical concept lmao
The best way I can think of to explain the capacitor-inductor relationship is to imagine standing on a wood-and-rope bridge and jumping up and down. When you jump, the whole bridge moves a little and stops. If you jump at just the right speed, the whole bridge starts to move with you. The electrons moving back and forth are like your jumps, and the inductor and capacitor are like the ropes. They dissipate most of the energy in the wires, but the electrons that are moving back and forth at just the right speed get reflected back and forth between the capacitor and inductor. If that back-and-forth speed is the same frequency as the carrier wave of the AM station, then you've isolated (i.e. "tuned in") the signal. The diode turns the signal into a bunch of little pulses, which cause the crystal in the earpiece to vibrate. The stronger the signal (the "amplitude" in "amplitude modulation"), the more the crystal moves, which is what gives you your sound.
With a rope bridge it's not the tension in the ropes that store the energy, but rather the gravitational potential energy as it goes up and down between it's 'optimal' position (a catenary curve) and a different shape. So it's the wood rather then the ropes that's actually 'storing' most of the energy.
I love how you just did this stuff just cause you wanted to I wish more people at my school were passionately curious about the stuff they studied instead of just doing it because they think it will make them a bunch of money at some point. I think it would make interacting with people a lot more fun.
This is so cool! I am an engineering student in Italy, but I never tried actually building a project with what I've learned because I never felt like I actually had the comprehension of it, but seeing you try and retry has inspired me to try it and see where it brings me. Thank you for the entertainment, if you see a video about a dude building a small DIY wind turbine you know what inspired him
I'm currently in school for electrical engineering, and it is pretty awesome to see more people get into the absolute fundamentals of how electricity and electromagnetic waves allow us to get stuff done. Great work! I got really hooked in my physics II class, since it's all about how these waves work.
This is the kind of curiosity I try to encourage in those around me! You hit the nail on the head with the question that essentially asked.. how the heck are we sending signals wirelessly / manipulating something we probably had no reason of knowing existed other than chance?? Like think about the world pre electricity, pre radio!! While I actively spend more time in the realm of mechatronics, this topic in particular has a special place in my heart because it feels like such a monumental symbol of what it means to be curious, to explore, to experiment.. to simply be human. While I understand and don't expect the general public to go to depth in STEM topics, I wish more people were as curious about our built environment & technology, simply willing to look is enough, rather than staying away due to fear of seemingly complicated concepts. Imagine how many things we could build, fix or get ideas about if more people just had more ideas about stuff? Another question I find fun to ask is, "Where does the cold come from in a fridge / AC?" The easy answer would be the parts but thats kinda obvious. I'm getting more at "what the heck are those parts doing and how are they somehow removing heat?" As well as I may make the statement that "vacuums don't suck" and further ask "if space is a vacuum.. why doesn't our atmosphere get sucked away? ;)" I ask questions like that so whoever I'm talking to can go "hmm, how is that the case?" Sorry for the lengthy comment but this topic and the way you presented it really brought out the passion I have for science/engineering communication and I wish to be as effective/influential in my community. Thank you for making this video, and best of luck in future endeavours!
A capacitor+inductor resonate at a specific frequency. Old radios had variable capacitors to change the oscillator frequency which changes which radio station you could hear. I remember being where you are 40 years ago...
You young whipper snappers are just getting started ) :) :) Variable capacitors you remember are now getting expensive and hard to get. I made a video showing how to make a really-really cheap one out of stuff you may have laying around. It has 3 nice features: 1) It is really low cost 2) It doesn't cost much 3) It is really-really cheap.
@arthoefmann This was a great explanation of a crystal radio! Some advice if you want to build another one: 1. The 'germanium' diodes you got from amazon were likely not actually germanium. (Or even diodes for that matter. If you can't test them, i.e. with an oscilloscope and a signal generator, you can't be sure what you get from amazon) Try getting your componnents from a reliable industrial source like Mouser, Digi-Key, Octopart, or Futureelectronics. 2. A better grounding point will make a big difference. Usually, near where the electricity feed from the grid to your house, there will be a ground rod with a cable connecting it to the circuit in the building. Hooking your ground there will work better thsn the downspout. 3. Keeping your antenna wire as high off the ground as you can will increase the power of any signals you pick up. I really liked the drawing you did of the waveform of AM. And the very end was hilarious!
Getting a 1N34 from anyone is really hard. If you add a resistor across the headphones, a 1N5711 works OK for a radio. I found that 2K worked the best with the earphone I have. 10K sort of worked. Higher than that was weak and distorted.
If you want to make it more sensitive you can open up the diode almost by putting a small battery with resistor over the diode to put 0.6 to 0.7 volt over it, you need to lookup the data sheet and see at what voltage it opens, so it can actually receive weaker signals by it being not closed. This way you will not neeed the signal to be above the opnening voltage of the diode since it is almost open already. A trick I learned from my father. I Already have built one many years ago worked but we don't have so many AM stations anymore. So by this trick one does not use an amplifier but makes the receiver more sensitive. Good luck with science, not giving up is an essential part of it.
I love that you are curious, trying things, and that you succeeded! One thing you might be interested in - AM radio waves are lower in frequency than FM. In the US where I live, the AM band is about 0.5 MHz to 1.5 MHz, while the FM band is 88 MHz to 108 MHz. Lower frequencies have longer wave lengths and can travel much further. This probably explains why you were getting different English and French radio stations. When I was a kid in Frederick, MD, USA, on clear nights we could get AM radio stations from Nashville, TN which is about 1000 km away. Conversely, the furtherest FM signals we could normally get were from Baltimore, MD or Washington, DC, about 85 km away. There are a few reasons for this, but it has to do with the geography of earth (i.e. mountain ranges can block radio waves) as well as atmospheric changes (i.e. thunderstorms can block radio waves). But there are more complicated phenomenon like temperature inversions and atmospheric ducting - basically the temperature and pressure create zones of atmosphere that carry waves long distances. Thats why I mentioned we could only get radio from 1000km away on clear nights - in my area thats when we got good ducts to carry the radio over the Appalachian mountains! If you're really curious, read about Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio. The bandwidth is so low it can't carry music or voice, only codes, but it can transmit literally around the world!
This is so cool! When I received my first AM signals (also here in Germany btw, Hi), they sounded exactly like in your demo. I was so mezmerized by it that i actually invested more into antenna stuff, better receivers etc. I did not even start from scratch like you did (although this is arguably even cooler), i started with a cheap software radio that you plug in to your laptops USB. Anyway, I discovered that antennas make all the difference. Now I get Chinese stations, BBC from England, meterological stations from Shannon, Ireland, radio TRT from near Ankara, Turkey and some North African station (sometimes). Beautiful scenery by the way, living right next to a corn field.
Congratulations!' If you want to learn, I'm sure that there are Ham radio operators (also known as amateur radio operators) nearby, some of whom would be happy to spend time with you answering questions, and helping you improve your receiver, or analyze the problems that you had with your earlier attempts. They will also be able to find what AM signals in your area are strong enough for a crystal set. One possibility for the signal that you heard but could not interpret is that it might not have been AM, but SSB (Single Side Band), which, when heard on an AM receiver, gives a vague impression of voice, but is unintelligible..
Thanks for an excellent video. Interesting seeing a crystal radio being built. Just of interest, my grand aunt (my grandfather's sister) was the first one in our family to have a radio, which was actually a crystal receiver, bought back in the 1920s. During the 1930s. my grandfather with a standard type valve radio of its day, connected to a long wire antenna throughout his house on one occasion, he managed to receive 3LO Melbourne from Sydney, which was quite an achievement back then and it even became an attraction to his entire neighbourhood. Following my grandfather, my dad continued with the radio interest, though he was also into SW radio. Receiving distant signals on radio has continued to be a fascination to me. I have also managed to receive long distance TV. Anyway, wishing you the very best. Rob.
The inductor and capacitor exploit a phenomenon called resonance. The energy captured by the antenna oscillates back and forth between the magnetic field of the inductor and the electric field of the capacitor. By adjusting their values you can set the rate at which this occurs to the carrier frequency of the station you wish to receive. The formula for resonance is f0 = 1 / (2 * π * sqrt(L * C)) where f0 is the resonant frequency in Hertz (cycles per second) L = inductance in Henries C = capacitance in Farads My guess is that your homemade capacitor did not have enough capacitance. It might have worked better to wind one layer of metal foil, then a layer of insulating material like black electrician's tape atop the foil, and then another layer of metal foil atop the tape. A problem is that all over the world broadcasters are switching off AM transmitters as they move to FM, satellite, and Internet for audio delivery.
Optical Physicist here and I just want to say how happy I am to have found this. Your enthusiasm and willingness to do something wrong over and over again is really inspiring and more rare than you might think. I'm sure your next version will be phenomenal. Now for the technical comments: 1: Using the resistor is good, but if you want to amplify the signal more then you'll want a larger resistance. If you are currently using a 10 kilo-ohm resistor try bumping up to 1Mega-ohm. If you want to get really fancy then look into transistor based amplifiers like the Transimpendence Amplifier. It will allow you to get absolutely huge amplification without as much noise. 2: You should absolutely be able to use that speaker from the fire alarm, you probably just need to get the input voltage right. This will likely require looking up the datasheet for the part and figuring out what voltage it wants to see and then see if you can amplify your signal to that voltage. 3: Your ground is fine, but you could also just use the ground on your wall-plugs. 4: You can change the station you are listening to by changing the induction of your coil. This can be done with a ferrite core by inserting inside the coil, which will change the inductance and thereby change the resonance frequency of your circuit. This is a great way to tune to different stations because you can just move the rod in or out. Best of luck!!! You rule dude.
I guess I was lucky growing up in USSR in the 70's, where I built a crystal radio when I was about 10 years old or even earlier.... I am old, though and back then these things were much more in the folklore. No RU-vid, just folklore. After a crystal radio I built quite a few amplified transistor radios that were battery powered. There were magazines for young electronics enthusiasts back then where I could educate myself on the subject of radio receivers. I am talking 1970's soviet Ukraine here.
Similar journey in the UK. I had an electronics set at the age of about 5 or 6, the one where the components are laid and and you connected wires into springs, and made my first crystal radio, later adding a transistor amplifier to it. Do a google search for "ladybird book transistor radio" - I built these circuits in primary school.
GURLL. I ALWAYSS get this idea of knowing how to make anything from scratch incase war happened and humanity went back to zero, with no internet, batteries, bluetooth…and omg I srsly can’t believe that I’m not the only one. PLEASE KEEP THESE VIDEOS GOING (altho I’m still in the first min of this one😂)
in all seriousness your explanations was great and incredibly clear! i’ve never come close to understanding how any of this works lmao but i was watching this like ohhhh that makes sense!
What a fun thing to pop up on my youtube page! I didn't know anyone did this anymore. I've built a few crystal radios when I was a kid and using a kit(s) I built a one tube amp and a three transistor amp to boost the signal. My dad put a long wire antenna on top of the house for me. Great to see someone else discovering this!
This is a very good, very important introduction to - basically everything as you say ! As a teacher / lecturer, I'd start with a few tests with magnetism, electromagnetism, motors and generators. Most electronics are based on an understanding of this. Radio comes a lot later - after a glance at the electromagnetic spectrum. Oh yes, also look at how a vinyl record player works.
I give you LOADS of credit for having the curiosity to want to try something like this yourself, and not just giving up when things started getting complicated! Also, being in such a rural area DEFINETLY makes it significantly harder to get a signal without more advanced tech that has filtering, amplification, and very resonant antennas. Very cool video!
Well done! I'm impressed that you persevered and got it working! When I was young, my Grandfather told me about Crystal Radios. I tried & tried to make it work - and it took years to figure out everything you have! There was no internet then - that's my excuse! Once I did figure it out - it started a lifelong interest in Radio, Electronics & Software. Even if you don't fall down the same rabbit hole - the knowledge is worthwhile & useful.
I live in Afghanistan and I can say that some people do use Radios. Electronics is my hobby and I have been doing it for like 5 years now. But I learned from someone who had no idea about electronics but still managed to make it💪 You motivated me. Thank you!
Used to be super common to build radios and the early amateur radio operators would build their own. I found old lab electronics test equipment a neat option as well. However, on the other end of simple building versus more expensive and complex, read into the prisoner of war POW radios and other improvised radios one can build. Very interesting the creativity of sourcing materials to use for receiving and even transmitting signals. Scrap materials are great, especially when you can find for free. Good thinking in regards to the best ways to have a most passive system. Passive versus active designs that is. You can think of everything in the circuit like an antenna and think of how to optimize those parts like and the rest of the circuit design, where this method of thinking is more critical with higher frequencies like in the microwave on up range. Great work and keep up the learning that is always continuing improvement. Thanks for sharing!
As an electronics student I am astonished at your enthusiasm. Today we have reached an age where anyone can learn anything. I also kind of want to lean everything I learn from the scratch. In this case, starting from doping of semiconductor no, more back starting from mining and identifying semiconductor materials to making diodes to building radio or television or computer. (ha ha kidding its impossible for me to learn mining, chemistry, physics, engineering on my own). Well I have got friends of different majors. Lets see where i can reach. God knows
This video is such a refreshing watch. Real curiosity and passion is such a hard thing to come across these days. Reminds me why I do what I do 🥰 also electronics are SOO COOL
I am a third year electronics engineering student and I absolutely loved this video. We learned this stuff in our previous semesters and it did not sound as interesting as it did in this video. Please continue making content like this.
The block that is formed with inductor and capacitor is called a LC circuit, or harmonic oscillator, and it is one of the crucial building blocks in almost any radio simple or advanced. It has a resonance frequency that is determined by both inductance and capacitance. That means, that if we inject signal (from antenna) into the oscillator, the frequency that is close to the resonance frequency is amplified, while all other frequencies are jammed. This effect allowes to use oscillator to tune the radio to the desired frequency by changing inductance and/or capacitance.
What an exciting and refreshing recommendation from the algorithm. Well done to you for following your curiosity - I hope it continues to lead you to a greater understanding of our fascinating world! I Like your video style too so I'm looking forward to checking out your other stuff :)
Great video on one of the good first radio experiments everyone can do. It does get a lot easier when you start to realise what's necessary for a good reception, like a long antenna up high.
I made my first crystal set when I was 10. It didn't work because I hadn't scraped the magnet wire properly, and used an unsuitable low impedance phone. One year later, I got a pair of decent vintage high-impedance headphones from the 30s, and finally succeeded. Later, someone told me on how to build a transistor amplifier and later, how to add regeneration to the thing. The rabbit hole was unveiled, and almost thirty years later I'm still exploring it. :)
I am proud of seeing people with different backgrounds and knowledge try science and engineering stuff. All this help both communities to create and innovate in all areas of knowledge like science and arts. I encourage everyone to be curious and embark in simple but interesting projects like this to understand what is happening and make your own propositions. And if you have any doubts just try to ask someone that is deep in that area of knowledge. If it is a good person it will try to answer all your questions. I am a student in electrical engineering and my adventures are in arts and combining both things at the same time, it is really fun. Just a quick note, be careful with the projects you embark because they can be dangerous, from high voltage to unsafe chemicals or illegal actions, so do research before starting anything. Your video was great for an introduction to this world and I hope other people tries it on their own. I am a professional yapper
Hey that was a grate video, and it is so cool that you have decided to build, An radio. And if you'll want to look more in to radio, i think you should check: 1. Transistor radio. theses radios were created in the late 40's so their technology is more advanced. (if you are new to electrical engineering {cool}, transistor, is an device used for amplefainig. or it used for an electrical automatic switch). 2. I haven't really study frequencys thoroughly. But maybe you could add another H.P.F (An high pass filter. An H.P.F makes sure that only High frequencys can pass through) , to create an band pass filter. to decrease the frequency. 3. You could maybe use an Active H.P.F. It is just afilter that uses the op-amp feedback to make the frequency's more clear. 4. And if you don't want to play with more H.P.F /L.P.F(an filter for low frequencys)/transistors/op-amp's, you could always just increase the capacitance, by adding more capacitors(In parallel). I hope you, the creator {and mabye the reader}, will make even cooler projects in the future.
Pumping your legs on a swing is a good way to think of how the inductor and capacitor work as a resonant circuit. The swing "wants" to move at a certain frequency/speed. If you pump your legs too fast or slow, then the swing barely moves. But if you get the timing right, then over time even small energy inputs make a swing go high. Think of the combination of the capacitor and inductor as determining the length and stiffness of the swing's rope --> the resulting resonant frequency
I expect the problem you had was that the fixed frequency inductor /capacitor circuit didn't resonate at the frequency of a nearby transmitter. After 20 attempts you presumably struck lucky. Try using a variable (tuning) capacitor instead in the arthoefman MkXXI Rx (receiver). You could then get multiple stations. Anyway, well done.
Resonance is a powerful phenomenon! 👍 As a next am receiver build have a look at some regenerative receiver project! Their performance may surprice even though the component count isn't that big..!😊
Madame , your content was suggested me and I find it very succesful. It's especially nice to see more female creators here interested in such matters rather than horoscopes , fortune telling or fashion. You're inspiring
Fantastic video. I saw a person who build this kind of radio as hobby in a documentary, he explained that when he was a child the used the mattress base which was made of springs as antenna. Also he did something to change the channel.
omg I'm actually obsessed w this vid, I know I've got an elective module to build a software defined radio in 3rd year but I really wanna try this out first :D
Yes, I was going to say it is a lot less difficult if one starts with a kit that has components chosen/sourced by someone with experience. I also put together a couple radios from Radio Shack kits as a kid. There are far simpler projects one could try. Radio Shack is no longer available here in Canada but there are sources on the internet for many electrical and electronic kits that would help give one a leg up.
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="121">2:01</a> I know im only two minutes in but the radio waves are energy. Something had to emit them, and then elsewhere it was collected and transformed.
Good video! I exerimeted with crystal sets - the best results had been gotten with variable inductance (ferrite rod for tuning) and MOSFET (I used BF998) as a switch (syncronous detector without power supply or a battery).The antenna had two wires (7M each) and central wire .The antenna was like "arraow". In my state nearest radiostation is at 500km distance, but with such a receiver I received far MW stations with high loudness at 250Ohm phones.It is important - DC current musn`t flow through a phone - there must be an electrolytic capacitor.When you get two variable coupled coils - the selectivity will be quite good.
It is so inspiring, that you just came up with this idea and started building a radio, with no electronics background!!! Some things were a little wrong, like the parallel combination of inductor and capacitor which is actually a filter, for filtering out the unwanted frequencies. Keep it on, if you are interested in electronics and don't be discouraged if some things don't work at first ;)
i'm so happy to see someone my age mess around with the same simple circuits! unfortunately for us, i think building crystal radios used to be more fun back in the day when you had an AM transmitter in your home town or a strong one in a nearby city. i think the last AM transmitter in my country shut down years ago, so when i built a tiny battery powered vacuum tube radio recently, i sadly had no station to test it with. anyways, these little projects feel like absolute magic. it's insane to me that someone came up with this stuff!
You have started a journey into something you can really build on. You might want to consider becoming a radio ham, and filming your journey. Its a hobby that has so much to offer. Some do it for the learning, some do it for the experimentation, some do it to just chat to people and make friends, and some do it for the contesting. Many people use radio from home but a lot of people try to visit mountains or hills and work a number of stations before they leave using a portable radio. Whatever interests you there will be an aspect incorporated into radio that makes it so fun to do and very enjoyable.
What a gorgeous accent, in perfect English, this video is from a German RU-vidr it seems ? Good news for them, they have just introduced a new "Beginner" licence for Amateur Radio Operators in Germany. Called a Class "N". This is a new easier licence test, to allow people to start off in Amateur Radio. (In the USA the nearest equivalent is called "Technician" and in Australia it is called "Foundation"). There is online education on German websites, but nearby Radio Clubs might also offer in-person teaching on weekends or evenings. As well as covering the legal requirements of operating Amateur Radio in Germany, you/they will also learn some basic concepts of radio transmitting and receiving (some of which you already know !). Germany's new "N" licence for Beginners, allows up to 10 watts transmitter output and operation on a range of several frequencies. (think of a High Powered WalkyTalky or a car installed transmitter radio). Range can be over 100km from hill-tops. Range can be extended even further with "Repeaters", "IRLP" or "Echolink". (The teaching for the N class licence exam, will cover all of them, I am sure). Later on, a person may choose to do the more advanced exams and be granted the higher categories "E", or "A" Radio licence. ("A" being the highest class). Licenced Amateur Radio Operators have the right to operate in most overseas countries, (certain restrictions apply), so your unique callsign, once issued by your governing authority is valid almost worldwide. I recommend people (of all ages) with an interest in Radio or Electronics to get involved with Amateur Radio. In my local Radio club we have had 12 and 13 year olds pass their full licence test, after attending our teaching classes. Cheerio from New Zealand. ZL3CATH. I'll try to include a link to a German website I found in English language, but there may be other websites. www.wimo.com/en/blog/post/N-Lizenz-Update-2024
Congratulations with your crystal radio! I'm pretty sure it's much harder to make it work today than 50+ years ago, because AM radio is dying out, and amount of powerful AM transmitter in the world is constantly decreasing. And as you've already mentioned, crystal radio can't receive FM and SSB. As you've probably never heared of SBB, it's similar to AM, but only uses half of the spectrum of AM (and usually no hard carrier) which makes it much more efficient in terms of radio wave energy. SSB is popular among HAM radio operators, and there are also a bunch of shortwave stations that use SSB. And there is of course FM, which is normally found on VHF bands for local broadcasts and communications (VHF radio normally does not go over the horizon, unlike shortwave, medium or long waves radio does, so it's range is limited to about 100 km).
This is fire🔥🔥. Just love for the courage to attempt and finish the project. Much more love for all the explanations, which are on point (even if you said that you had no idea of electronics at the beginning).
A cute and fun watch! Didn't get why a soldred-in resistor would be any help in order to replace that makeshift variable capacitor. Many thanks for not quitting the task. :-)
I wonder if leaving the capacitor out, gave the crystal set a broader coverage of received frequencies? And the resistor over the piezoelectric earpiece basically allows a complete electrical circuit for current to flow? As nominally, the earpieces are very high resistance. A schematic diagram representing the finished radio would be a great way to know!
Back when I was like 15 I was always really interested in how different technologies worked and how you could build them from scratch, so seeing a video of someone actually doing it should be really interesting
What a gorgeous accent, in perfect English, you're in Germany it seems ? Good news, they have just introduced a new "Beginner" licence for Amateur Radio Operators in Germany. Called a Class "N". This is a new easier licence test, to allow people to start off in Amateur Radio. (In the USA the nearest equivalent is called "Technician" and in Australia it is called "Foundation"). There is online education on German websites, but nearby Radio Clubs might also offer in-person teaching on weekends or evenings. As well as covering the legal requirements of operating Amateur Radio in Germany, you will also learn some basic concepts of radio transmitting and receiving (some of which you already know !). Germany's new "N" licence for Beginners, allows up to 10 watts transmitter output and operation on a range of several frequencies. (think of a High Powered WalkyTalky or a car installed transmitter radio). Range can be over 100km from hill-tops. Range can be extended even further with "Repeaters", "IRLP" or "Echolink". (The teaching for the N class licence exam, will cover all of them, I am sure). Later on, a person may choose to do the more advanced exams and be granted the higher categories "E", or "A" Radio licence. ("A" being the highest class). Licenced Amateur Radio Operators have the right to operate in most overseas countries, (certain restrictions apply), so your unique callsign, once issued by your governing authority is valid almost worldwide. I recommend people (of all ages) with an interest in Radio or Electronics to get involved with Amateur Radio. In my local Radio club we have had 12 and 13 year olds pass their full licence test, after attending our teaching classes. Cheerio from New Zealand. ZL3CATH. I'll try to include a link to a German website I found in English language, but there may be other websites. www.wimo.com/en/blog/post/N-Lizenz-Update-2024
I like listening to radio and I've always wondered how do they work and if I can build one. This video recommendation by RU-vid was so on-point! Now I can see that I can't build one by myself as a person who never understands electrical circuits at all 😅 Congratulations to you though!
What a fantastic voyage! Thank you for sharing this with us. After watching the "Learnings & Troubleshooting" section, it would interesting to see how different types of antennas would help boost or hinder the received signal. This thought came to me having recently watched a lot of videos about LOG or Loop on the Ground antennas. It's exactly what it sounds like. Thank you for sharing. This was educational but also very entertaining.
We need more people like you, if at least 20% of the world would be like you... The planet would be a veeeeery different place right now. Best way to learn something is to teach it. I love the attitude! Bravo!
I love this. Learning new stuff is the best. I was a little confused about your starting point, in the beginning of the video, but I guess you are about high school level physics with only limited knowledge on basic electronics. (AC and radio communication is not basic electronics if you ask me) So I am very impressed that you kept at it. It is much easier to read about something than constructing that think. And it did not look like you had acces to simple tools like a multimeter that could help a lot with testing, or more complicated tools like an oscilloscope that can be very useful when working on signal electronics. Witch just makes it harder. (well you could have to learn to use the tool too if you had them and that can also take some time) Your "brief history" part and "AM radio" explanations looked to be way easier for you, but you also have 200 videos of practice so i guess that makes sense. 😂 I hope you have found a new project for your next video. 🎉👏
for anyone trying this , you can get excellent results with these two tips .. 1) the piezo crystal erapiece might be hard to get , instead use an lm386 audio amplifier and connect the usual wirewound-magnet speaker to it 2) antenna - you need as much power as you can get , take a wire and wrap it 20 turns around the telephone wire of your apartment/house , this wire serves as an antenna and effectively uses the entire telephone wire inside your house without directly connecting to it .
Love this video idea 😊😊 My pops back then in the 60s got interested in electronics and asked a friend who was learning to be a electrician to share some papers which he gladly did. Out of that knowledge he built himself a radio. It's amazing to think about that especially as he was in india and resources were very limited.
I started on the "how does everything work?" kick when i was 5 or 6. I've built radios and generators and solid state Tesla coils since then. Radio in my humble opinion, is the closest thing we have to magic. Keep up the curiosity Hanna!
well done! the capacitor and inductor (coil) make a resonant circuit which "amplifies" that specific frequency you want to tune to. it will be MUCH better with a capacitor (of the correct size) if you want to ever revisit. and the antenna design also makes a big difference. But you did it! 🙂 ps - love the hair!
